Amazing camera for the cowabunga crowd

Thanks to a narrower bezel, the SAMSUNG Galaxy S4 is about the same size as its predecessor, despite its sporting a larger screen.

Looking for the ultimate Father's Day gift for your active hubby? If he skis, cycles, bungee jumps, skydives, snorkels, or races anything, knock his socks off with the GoPro HERO3 Black Edition!

GoPro makes the world's most popular action cameras, and the HERO3 Black Edition is the San Mateo, California-based company's most advanced model – 30 percent smaller, 25 percent lighter, Wi-Fi enabled and two times as powerful as previous models. It's a remarkable achievement, considering the device only weighs 2.6 ounces and is about one-third the size of a bar of soap.

The HERO3 Black Edition is wearable and gear-mountable, waterproof to 197 feet, and capable of capturing ultra-wide 1440p 48fps, 1080p 60 fps and 720p 120 fps video and 12MP photos at a rate of 30 photos per second. The camera captures professional, cinema-quality video at 2X the resolution and 2X the frame-rate of previous models while delivering 2X better low light performance.

The new camera also provides 12MP burst capture at 30 frames per second with 2X better low light performance compared to previous models. Still Photo and Time-lapse Photo modes remain the same but are now joined by a new Continuous Photo mode that captures continuous 12MP stills at a steady 3, 5, or 10 photo-per-second rate, up to 30 photos at a time.

The SAMSUNG Galaxy S III is one of the best-selling smart phones around, so now comes the Galaxy S 4, touted as the most advanced, most secure smart phone on the planet.

Use it for a few minutes, and you will marvel at its innovations. SAMSUNG clearly went overboard, leaving no doubt that the Galaxy S 4 is a worthy successor to the SAMSUNG Galaxy S III and engineered to please almost any user.

The new Galaxy S-series phone has a full-HD Super AMOLED (1920 X 1080) display with 441 pixels-per-inch (ppi) for brilliant graphics on the device's 5-inch screen. With all that glass, the device only weighs 4.6 ounces and is 7.9 millimeters thin.

Ample horsepower is provided by a 1.9 GHz quad core CPU and 2GB of internal RAM. Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) with TouchWiz enhancements runs the show, and the display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.0.

The unit is powered by a removable 2,600 mAh battery for extended use on a single charge. Built-in memory of 16GB or 32GB can be expanded with up to 64 GB of onboard storage.

The phone has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera, which work together in all-new Dual Camera shooting mode, which takes pictures with both cameras simultaneously to let the photographer also be in the photo.

The camera's other photographic tricks are equally impressive. Drama Shot captures a progressive event, like a basketball player's slam dunk, in one frame. Eraser Shot removes unwanted objects or people from an otherwise perfect picture. Animation Shot turns your favorite moments into animated GIF, and Live Filters lets you see how a picture will look– on both the camera and camcorder – before the photo is taken.

The Galaxy S 4 also introduces a completely new way to interact with a smart phone – touch-free. Simply waving your hand over the screen scrolls through a screen and changes a song; holding a finger over the screen allows one to preview content within the photo gallery, email and calendar; pause a video by looking away from the screen and scroll to the top or bottom of a page by looking up or down. You can answer a call or skip to the next song by waving your hand in front of the screen.

The device also offers KNOX (short for "Fort Knox," I assume), which enables you to separate your company persona from your personal life. Your IT staffers can now manage a passcode-protected work container without disturbing your personal space. This means photos, emails, music files and social network data remain intact on the device if you leave the company.

Easy Mode, which was first introduced on the Galaxy S III, has been enhanced to smooth the transition for first-time smart phone owners by simplifying the home screen layout, camera, calendar, messaging and the Internet browser to make the settings menu easy to navigate. The standard home screen interface remains available when the user feels comfortable enough to make the transition.

SAMSUNG also offers Smart Switch, a PC application that lets new owners transfer contacts, messages, photos, music, calendar notifications and more from another phone.

The SAMSUNG Galaxy S 4 will be sold in the U.S. at AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless stores and authorized retailers. Most carriers will offer the unit in either Black Mist or White Frost.

The model I tested was from AT&T, where the 16GB model lists for $639.99. As you might expect, that number drops to $199.99 if purchased with a new two-year service contract. See your AT&T retailer for details, and for more information about the Samsung Galaxy S4 itself, visit Samsung.com.